Dr. Luke Nears Deal to Debut as “American Idol” Judge

Though FOX has only officially confirmed Keith Urban for the season thirteen “American Idol” judging panel, reports suggest that the entire panel is effectively locked up.

Over the past few weeks, various sources–via various means–have confirmed that Jennifer Lopez was set to return to “Idol,” for which she served as a judge in seasons ten and eleven. And according to Deadline, Dr. Luke, the other rumored frontrunner, is finalizing a deal to join Lopez and Urban at the famous table.

“Dr. Luke” Lukasz Gottwald, who served as the lead guitarist on “Saturday Night Live” from 1997-2007, has reigned for the past decade as one of pop’s premiere writers and producers. His hits include Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone,” Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok,” Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” P!nk’s “Who Knew,” Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA,” Rihanna’s “Where Have You Been” and countless others.

Though, as that list proves, Dr. Luke has the musical credentials to function as an “American Idol” judge, his casting–as with the inclusion of Urban and Lopez and next year’s panel–rings as curious given previous speculation about the show’s future.

Following the poorly-received twelfth season, which saw a judging panel of Urban, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey fail to attract both viewer and critical acclaim, talk emerged that FOX and “Idol” were going to shake up the format.

Ideas reportedly considered including going with an all-alumni panel (at one point, sources said Jennifer Hudson was already confirmed), going with an all-A-list panel (with names like Justin Bieber, Diddy, P!nk and Selena Gomez reportedly eyed) or going with a panel of relative unknowns.

But with Urban, Lopez and Dr. Luke, the reality juggernaut is not pointing its needle towards any of those extremes. It is moving forward with a standard, typical “Idol” panel.